blanche-2
"After Tonight" was gorgeous Constance Bennett's last film under her RKO contract. She didn't exactly leave on a high note; the film lost money. But the film has its compensations.It's the old spy falling in love with the enemy story. This one has Karen Schontag (translation: Pretty Day) (Bennett) at the railroad trying to get to Vienna from Paris during World War I. It's there she meets Captain Rudolph Ritter, the new Captain of Austrian Intelligence. No surprise that each finds the other mighty attractive, and, since the train is overbooked, he helps Karen get to Vienna. And who is she really? A Russian, Carla Vanirska, and she's a spy.Once in Vienna, we see Karen singing in a club and then working as a nurse. Rudolph and his associates are trying to find a dangerous enemy spy, R-14, who is delivering coded messages to the Russians as they try to overthrow the government in Austria.Well, we all know who R-14 is, with her coded messages in invisible ink that she carries in her books and leaves in a staircase panel. The question is, will Rudolph find out? And if he does, will he have her shot? I love the atmosphere of the European sets and whether or not we think we know what will happen, the film is still suspenseful. Bennett and Roland, who married some years later, are a beautiful couple. So he's an Austrian with a Mexican accent. You can't have everything. What a career - 60 years that began in the silents.A definite must-see for fans of the lovely Bennett.
beyondtheforest
Constance Bennett was sublime in this. This film, unlike some others in which she starred, made it easy to see why she was a star. The plot is intriguing, if not overwhelmingly original, and the film is made very well. The theme song of the film, which Bennett sings (well), is memorable and sweet. Bennett is a glamour queen throughout and acts skillfully and pleasingly. The direction is overall excellent, the film moves at a brisk pace, and the sets and situations are not too stagy. It compares remarkably well to another spy melodrama of the period, Garbo's MATA HARI, and of the two, Bennett surprisingly comes out the winner (no disservice to the great Garbo intended, just some praise to the underrated and forgotten Bennett).
Dave0816
Like Dietrich (Dishonored) and Garbo (Mata Hari) before her, Constance Bennett finally got a chance to play a fascinating spy in "After Tonight". This was Constance's last picture under her RKO contract. At the time of it's release the film was a failure and RKO laid the blame at the feet of Constance Bennett. Isn't it always better to lay the blame at the feet of the departing star? However, looking at it now, Miss Bennett is one of the saving graces of the picture. Her performance is actually quite good and the production is well put together. The direction is a little sluggish at times and Gilbert Roland (who would marry Constance in 1940) is a little wooden. The ending comes as no surprise, but it was exactly what female audiences of the time expected from "women's pictures". They would attend a matinée, watch the heroine suffer through six or seven reels and then be presented with a happy ending. (How things have changed.) While not great, this movie is not that bad. The movie belongs to Constance Bennett and anyone who is a fan of hers should add this to their watch list if they have not already done so.
pyamada
This is not a great film by any means, but is certainly worth seeing for the fine performance by Constance Bennett. The camera loves her and all the romance scenes play very well. Most viewers will find the ending kind of phoney but one has to assume that so much war time sex, romance and spying was more than the Code would allow, so a "wonderful coincidence" of an ending was almost a given!
AD
